DES MOINES, Iowa — Right now, lawmakers are in the throws of budget negotiations, trying to solidify the budget for the fiscal year starting in just a few weeks.
So where are your tax dollars going?
The budget is being drafted differently this year. One general fund budget holds all the budgets for Health, Agriculture, DNR and more.
Then there are transportation and RIIF budgets.
Currently, the house and senate are not on the same page in terms of how much money the state has to spend, to the tune of $33 million.
It gets complicated, but essentially, their differences have to do with Medicaid projections and keeping the promise to fund K-12 education.
The house has put pen to paper and passed the budgets out of committee Wednesday.
What came out is pretty much business as usual: keeping with that k-12 increase, giving more money to medicaid, and more money to children's health insurance.
They are not using any dollars from the reserves, emergency fund, or ending balance. This is all within the projections from the Revenue Estimating Committee last week.
As for when the full house will debate, that depends on when leadership in the house and senate get on the same page.